Mop



Mar. 27, 1923. 1,450,008w

P. P. QUINLAN.

IVIOP.

FILED JAN. Il, 1922.

Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

UITED STATES :PILIP P. QUINLAN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Mor.

Application inea January 11, 1922. serial No. 528,363.

have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Mops, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains 'to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part lof this specification.

My invention relates to m'ops for cleaning floors or other surfaces and has for its ob- 'ject to produce a simple and novel construction and arrangement in which any usual or suitable mopping member, designed for the purpose or consisting simply of a piece of cloth, may be easily and conveniently placed, bel firmly held while in use, from which the mopping member may easily and conveniently 'be removed, and which will permit the water to be wrung fromy the mopping member with very-little exertion on the part o'f the user and without the necessity of touching the mopping member with the hands.

The various features of novelty whereby my yinvention is characterized will hereinafter vbe pointed yout with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of myfinvention' and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connect'ion `with 'the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l isv a front elevationv of a device arranged in accordance with the preferred form of'my invention, Ythe upper portion ofthe handle beingE broken away Fig. 2 is alsectiony taken approximately on line 2--Qfof Fig. l;

Fig.A 3 is 'a section takenv approximatelyV on line 3- 3 of Fig; 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged .scale taken approximately on linee-fl of `Fig. l; F ig.` 5 is a central longitudinal section through the bar'between which and the i actuating shaft of the wringing device the "i mopping'memb'er is supported; and

Fig.' 6 is an endview of the bar on a larger'scale than Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a handle of any usual or suitable construction having at its lower ends two arms which first project laterally in opposite directions as indicated at 2, 2, and then downward, parallel with each other, as indicated' at 3, 3; the parts 2, 2 of the arms preferably making obtuse angles with the handle instead of projecting at right angles therefrom. Near the free end of each of the' arms is an opening t aligned with the corresponding' opening infrthe other arm and preferably circular in shape.

The holder and winding device for the mopping member comprises a shaft 6 extending between the arms and through the openingstherein, and a detachable ,clamping bar 7. The clamping bar consists of a sheet metal plate bent so as to form a shallow trough and having its ends bent laterally in the same direction in the form of flanges 8. The length of the flanged bar is approximately equal to the distance between the supporting arms on the handle so 'that the bar may lie between said arms with the flanges engaging the inner sides thereof. Each flange is provided with an opening 9 adapted to registerI with the corresponding" opening 4; in the adjacent arm when the' parts are assembled. At least a portion-of the material which must be removed' in order to form each of the openings 9 isbe'nt outwardly and then back on itself-as indicated at 10, to form a hook-like element. In assembling the parts, the bar is first placed between the arms of the handle with the hooks projecting through the holes in the arms, and the bar is theny moved upwardly' so that the outer elements of the hooks en gage with the outer faces of the arms beyond i the margins of the holes in the latter, thus locking the bar against removal or displacement transversely of the arms. A mopping member, such as indicated at 1l, is then laid in the trough of the bar and the shaft 6 is introduced, clamping the mopping member between it and the bar. The shaft and the clamping bar must be interlocked so that the two will rotate together. `This is conveniently accomplished by making the holes l0 in the kflanges of the bar non-circular and giving to the shaft a similarfnon-circular cross sectional shape. In the arrangement shown, the holes 9 and the shaft 6 are both square. The parts are also so proportioned that when the shaft is in place it holds the hooks Yon the clamping bar againsty moving radially of the holes in the arms a accidentally slipping out of place while in '3 of the arms pass.

At one end of the shaft is an operating lever or handle 12 which, in the normal positions of the parts, when the mop is ready to be used for mopping purposes, eX-

tends upwardly along one of the arm mem` bers 3 and then inwardly for some distance across the corresponding arm member 2. The extreme upper end of the member 12 may be parallel with the handle and, to this extreme upper end there may, be attached a suitable knob 13 which, because of the bend in the lever or operating handle, does not project outwardly beyond the lower end of the operating lever or handle; thus causing no increase in the width of the mopping device due to the employment of the knob. Vhen the operating lever or handle is in its upright position it may conveniently be held against accidental displacement by means of a suitable U-shaped clip 14; hinged, as indicated at 15, to the arm member 2, so that it may be swung from a looking position as shown in Fig. 1 to a position in which it lies parallel with the arm member 2 and leaves the operating handle or lever free to be turned.

(lo-operating with the gripping and turning device, for 'the purpose of wringing the water from the mopping member, is a roller 16 journalled at its ends in the arms of a yoke 17 lying above the holder between lthe supporting arms for the latter. The ends of the yoke are bent outwardly as indicated at 18, and they are provided with slots 19 through which the members A post 20 passes up-i wardly through the middle portion of the yoke to the lower end of the mop handle 1 to which it is rigidly attached. In the arrangement shown, the post consists simply of a long screw ythe shank of which passes loosely through the yoke so as to permit the yoke to move up and down onA the shank; the head 21 of which lies on the under side of the yoke to serve as a limiting stop for the downward movement of the latter; and the screw threaded end 22 of which is screwed or driven into the lower end of the handle, leaving a screw threaded portion projecting below the handle. On the eX- posed screw threaded portion of the post is a wing nut 23 between which and the yoke lies a compression spring 24 which surrounds the post. It will be seen that with this arrangement the roller is yieldingly held down with a force depending upon the compression of the spring. By adjusting the wing nut, the initial compression of the spring may be varied. On the lower end of the main handle 1 o-f the mop is hinged a lever 25 which is connected to the yoke by means of two links 26 and 27, one attached to the yoke on one side `of the center and the otherbeing attached to the yoke on the opposite side of the center. The parts are so proportioned that when the lever lies approximately at right angles to the handle 1, the roller is in its lowermost position.

When it is desired to lift the roller away from the holder, the lever is swung upwardly, lifting the yoke and the roller against the resistance of the spring.

In using the mop, the mopping member is placed in the same position as heretofore explained. water from the mop, the holding clip 14 is pushed back into its released position and the operating handle or lever is rotated, turning the shaft and the clamping bar and winding the mopping member about the latter. As the mopping member is wound up, it bears against the roller which squeezes out the water, the roller receding as the.

thickness of the wound-up mass increases but always exerting a strong pressure on the same. A few turns of the operating handle will serve to wring out the water after which the roller is lifted away from the mopping member by means ofthe lever 25 and the holder is turned backwards so as to unwind the mopping member and place the mop in condition for use. It will be'seen that the pressure of `the roller yupon the mopping member, during the wringing operation, may be made'as great or as small as desired by simply adjusting the `wing nut. i-

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus.

illustrated and described but intend to cover all forms and arrangements whichcome;

within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the cha-acter described,i

a handle having two separated. arms provided at corresponding ends with alignedfopenings, a bar extending between saidarms and having flanges engaged with the inner sides of said arms, said iangeshaving-'openings registering with the openings in the arms, elements projectingl from said flanges through the openings in the arms andadapt- TvVhen it is desired to wring thev ed to engage with the outer faces of said arms beyond the margins of the openings therein, and a member for rotating said bar having a shaft extending through the aligned openings in the arms and the flanges, the shapes of said shaft and of said openings being such that the shaft is permitted to rotate in the openings in the arms and is locked to the ianges so as to cause said bar to rotate with the shaft.

2. In a device of the character described, a handle having two separated arms provided at corresponding ends with aligned openings, a bar extending between said arms and having flanges engaged with the inner sides of said arms, lips struck up from said flanges and projecting outwardly through said openings, said lips being shaped so as to engage with the outer faces of the arms beyond the margins of said openings when the lips lie toward one side of the openings, said ianges having non-circular openings aligning with the aforesaid openings, and a turning member for said bar having a shaft extending through the openings in the said arms and in said flanges, said shaft having a cross sectional shape corresponding to that of the said non-circular openings and being large enough to prevent said lips from becoming disengaged from the arms when the shaft is in position.

3. In a device of the character described, a handle having two arms at the end thereof, a rotatable holder arranged between the free ends of said arms and adapted to grip a mopping member and also to wind it up, a roller arranged between said arms paral- .in a directionto carry the roller away from said holder when the'lever is actuated.

4. A clamping bar for a mop comprising a sheet metal trough-like member having its ends bent transversely to form fianges extending across the ends of the trough, each of said flanges being provided with an opening and an outwardly-projecting hook at the margin of the opening.

5, A clamping bar for a mop made of a single piece of metal having its ends bent laterally in the same direction to form flanges, each of said flanges having an opening therein and an outwardly-projecting hook at the margin of said opening.

6. A clamping bar for a mop consisting of a single piece of metal having its ends bent laterally in the same direction to form flanges, each of said flanges having an opening extending through the same, and at least a portion of the material removed in the formation of each opening being bent outwardly and fashioned into a hook with the corresponding flange to form a hook.

In testimony whereof, I sign this speci fcation.

PHILIP P. QUINLAN. 

